(Atlantic, Iowa) – Cass County 4-H is hosting a Find Out Night for the community and current 4-H or Clover Kid members to learn more about what the program does! On Tuesday, November 15th from 5:30pm-7:30pm you can come and go as you please through the Cass County Community Building, 805 W 10th Street in Atlantic to learn more about 4-H! This event is free, and you don’t need to RSVP.

A short program overview will be presented at 6:00pm and 7:00pm. Throughout the event you will be able to stop at different tables to learn more and ask questions. Information will be provided on why 4-H is free in Cass County, the basics of what 4-H is, including what it stands for and the motto, project areas to get involved with, along with various programs, activities, and workshops we offer to the youth.

This is a no-pressure event to learn more about opportunities for youth K-12 in the community to get involved in. Get all of your questions answered about 4-H and Clover Kids in Cass County and find a club that best suits you! For more information about 4-H visit our website, www.extension.iastate.edu/cass or call the office 712-243-1132.

AMES, Iowa—Iowa Learning Farms will host a cover crop and no-till field day Tuesday, November 29 from 12:00-2:00 p.m. at the Caviness Farm near Greenfield. The free event is open to farmers and landowners and includes a complimentary meal. Cover crops offer many benefits to farmers and landowners including reduced soil erosion, weed suppression potential, reduced nitrogen and phosphorus loads entering water bodies, and increased organic matter in the soil. When paired with no-tillage additional benefits include increased water infiltration and reduced erosion during heavy rain events. This field day aims to equip attendees with best management practices for establishing and managing cover crops to maintain yields during the transition to a higher residue system of no-tillage and cover crops.

Iowa Learning Farms farmer partner Randy Caviness purchased his first no-till planter in 1985 and was admittedly skeptical that it would work. However, he stuck with it and his soil test results have shown increases in soil organic matter and soil health. “Many people talk about building up their soil, but then they don’t do anything about it. No-till actually does something about it. The more you leave the soil alone, the better it does. Some people think that if they till every four or five years, that they will get the benefits of no-till. No-till should be called never-till,” noted Caviness.

When asked about the economics of no-till, Caviness responded, “We want to show that you can be profitable and you can save the soil. Quality soil has got to be the bottom line. People need to think about their soil and do a better job for future generations. You can’t just think or say that you are doing a better job, you need to actually do a better job.” Liz Ripley, Iowa Learning Farms conservation and cover crop outreach specialist, will share results from on-farm cover crop demonstration trials and resources available to help farmers and landowners make a successful transition to a cover crop and no-till system. Iowa NRCS staff Hillary Olson, State Soil Health Specialist, and Ruth Blomquist, SW Iowa Soil Health Specialist, will lead attendees through soil health demonstration and discussion opportunities for technical and financial assistance. (Listen for Jim Fields’ interview with Liz Ripley on the “Heartbeat Today” page found under the “Programs” tab at kjan.com.)

The field day will be held at the Caviness Farm, 2476 260th Street, Greenfield, IA 50849 and will be held rain or shine. The event is free and open to farmers and landowners, though we require reservations to ensure adequate space and food. For reasonable accommodations and to RSVP please contact Liz Ripley at 515-294-5429 or ilf@iastate.edu.  Attendees will be entered in a drawing for ISU Prairie Strips honey.

Iowa Learning Farms field days and workshops are supported by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. For more information about Iowa Learning Farms, visit www.iowalearningfarms.org.

w/Kate Olson.

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DES MOINES, Iowa (November 7, 2022) — Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig commented today (Monday) on the Iowa Crop Progress and Condition Report released by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. The report is released weekly April through November. This week’s report covers the period of Oct. 31st to Nov. 6th.

“Soybean harvest is nearing completion with corn close behind and farmers are also busy with other fall field work as conditions allow,” said Secretary Naig. “Portions of the state received nearly a month’s worth of badly needed moisture last week. Looking ahead, we will see a few more days of warm and dry conditions before a weather pattern change ushers in colder air.”

The weekly report is also available on the USDA’s website at nass.usda.gov.

Crop Report

Warm and dry conditions early in the week helped accelerate row crop harvest, which remained ahead of average with 5.3 days suitable for fieldwork during the week ending November 6, 2022, according to the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service. Fieldwork included harvesting row crops, completing fall tillage, anhydrous application, baling stalks, seeding cover crops, and applying manure.

Topsoil moisture condition rated 17 percent very short, 37 percent short, 44 percent adequate and 2 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture condition rated 25 percent very short, 39 percent short, 36 percent adequate and 0 percent surplus.

Harvest of the corn for grain crop reached 89 percent complete, 6 days ahead of last year and 11 days ahead of the average. Moisture content of field corn being harvested for grain remained 17 percent.

Soybean harvest was virtually complete at 97 percent, 8 days ahead of last year and 9 days ahead of the average.

Livestock were mostly doing well, with some reports of calves being treated for pneumonia.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Cass County Wellness Coordinator Brigham Hoegh reports a free fall walking club that kicked off in Atlantic in early October is still going strong, and anyone interested in walking on Tuesday mornings is invited to join. The two remaining walks scheduled for this fall will be held on Tuesday, November 8 and Tuesday, November 15 from 9:30-10:15 AM. Both walks will start at the Nishna Valley Family YMCA (1100 Maple St. Atlantic, IA 50022). If the weather is nice, the walks will be outdoors, and if not, walkers will walk for free inside the YMCA.

The Nishna Valley Family YMCA has been coordinating the free community walking club, but many organizations have been helping to lead the weekly walks. There is no cost to join the walks, and walkers do not have to be members of the YMCA. The fall walking club kicked off on October 5 as part of the Healthiest State Walk from the YMCA to Harl Holt Park and back along the recently renovated Bull Creek Pathway. That walk was attended by well over 100 people. Information on area recreation opportunities was provided by Atlantic Parks and Rec, Nishna Valley Trails, and the YMCA. Hy-Vee and Fareway provided refreshments.

The Healthiest State Walk is an annual walk with the theme “Walk More. Connect More.”

Over 100 people participated in the October 5 Healthiest State Walk in Atlantic

The Healthiest State Walk is organized by Iowa’s Healthiest State Initiative, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization with the goal of making Iowa the healthiest state in the nation. As they share on their website, www.IowaHealthiestState.com, there are many benefits to walking including increased energy levels, better sleep, increased blood flow that leads to better cognitive functioning, improved memory, and reduced anxiety and depression.

The YMCA started the walking club this fall based on feedback from area residents that showed interest in opportunities to walk with others. While the walks are scheduled to end on November 15, people interested in leading future weekly walks—whether through the winter or next spring—are encouraged to contact Cass County Wellness Coordinator Brigham
Hoegh at bhoegh@iastate.edu or 712-249-5870.

Tuesday Walking Club
What: Walk more, connect more!
Where: Nishna Valley Family YMCA (1100 Maple Street, Atlantic, IA 50022). Rain location:
inside the YMCA
When: Tuesday, Nov. 8 and Tuesday, Nov. 15, 9:30-10:15 AM.
Who: Everyone is welcome!
Cost: No cost! Walking club registration is encouraged but not required. Register for the walking club at the Nishna Valley Family YMCA website
(http://nishnavalleyymca.com/membership/program-registration.html) or by calling the Y at 712-243-3934.
For information on community wellness events or resources, follow Healthy Cass County on Facebook @HealthyCassCounty.

ATLANTIC, IA (November 6, 2022) – Harvest Market 2022 will be held at the Cass County Community Center on Monday, November 21 from 3-7 pm. Market Manager Brigham Hoegh says you can bring local to your table this holiday season. This fall farmers market is held the Monday before Thanksgiving, so shoppers can pick up premium local produce, local meats, delicious baked goods, and other local foods to enjoy at holiday celebrations. The market also offers handmade craft products including seasonal candles, goat milk soaps, holiday decorations, and gifts.
Harvest Market 2022 vendors confirmed as of November 6 include: Bridgewater Farm, Brun Ko Farm, Sue’s Country Garden, Miss NiNi’s Fine Desserts, Claire’s Cinnamon Rolls, Noble Provisions, The Kringle Man, Hygge Cottage, DezaRae Farm Soaps, Midwest Candles by Brit, Johnna Joy Designs, Piper’s Brae Farm, Wud Bi Tek, JD Crafters, Matilda Dawn Creations,
Atlantic Atlas Cinema, Frosting Inc., Spirits of the Faire, Sweet Sisters Vegan, Harrisdale Farmstead, Donna’s Jewelry, Rolling Acres Farm, and Corn 4 a Cause.

Pim’s Thai Food Truck will be at the market selling dinner to go, so shoppers won’t have to go home without dinner. Harvest Market 2022 will offer both in-person shopping as well as pre-ordering. Pre-order will be available through www.produceintheparkatlanticiowa.com from Nov. 14-19. Pre-ordering is an excellent option for customers who want to plan on a particular food item—such as a favorite pie—as well as customers who are short on time to shop at the market.

Some vendors, such as Miss NiNi’s Fine Desserts and Claire’s Cinnamon Rolls, will only be offering pre-ordered products.

Miss-NiNis-fine-desserts-including-Raspberry-Danish-Butter-Cookies-are-being-sold-at-Harvest-Market-by-preorder-only-

Don’t miss a reminder to pre-order. Sign up for the Produce in the Park newsletter at www.produceintheparkatlanticiowa.com.

Produce in the Park continues to accept vendor applications to Harvest Market and other holiday farmers markets (Christmas Market Dec. 22, Sweetheart Market Feb. 11, and Spring Celebration Market April 6). For more information visit produceintheparkatlanticiowa.com or contact Market Manager Brigham Hoegh at produceintheparkatlanticiowa@gmail.com or 712-249-5870.

Harvest Market is sponsored by the Atlantic Community Promotion Commission, Cass County Tourism, Deter Motor Co., First Whitney Bank and Trust, Cass Health, Cass County Farm Bureau, and the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce. For the latest information on Harvest Market, follow Produce in the Park on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ProduceInThePark) or Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/produceintheparkatlanticia/) or sign up for the Produce in the Park newsletter at www.produceintheparkatlanticiowa.com.

[COUNCIL BLUFFS] – Pottawattamie County Emergency Management Director Doug Reed, today (Friday) said “Based on received and anticipated precipitation in the current forecast and assessing that harvest is nearing 80% completion in the county, emergency management has requested the State Fire Marshal lift the current ban in Pottawattamie County effective today. “Residents are still urged to use caution after we come out of a few days of precipitation. Drought conditions have worsened in areas of the county and dead fuels won’t take long to dry out and easily support rapidly spreading fires.” Emergency Management urges all residents to sign up for Alert Iowa emergency notifications at https://pcema-ia.org. During emergencies or critical events, communication is key, and the Alert Iowa system is the county’s primary method of distributing alerts and information.

Logan, Iowa – An open burning ban remains in place for Harrison County. The open burning ban prohibits all open burning in Harrison County including all incorporated city limits within the county. Last (Thursday) night, residents in Harrison County received some much-needed rainfall. According to the National Weather Service in Omaha/Valley, Nebraska, residents saw on average a half inch to an inch of rainfall since Thursday afternoon. In Harrison County, reports indicate residents saw approximately 0.51 inches of rainfall overnight. Although this rainfall provided some relief to the dry conditions, Harrison County remains in a very high fire danger. The burn ban will remain in effect until conditions significantly improve.

Since the burn ban was implemented on October 28, 2022, fire departments have responded to eleven reported fires in the county. These fires have resulted in multiple departments and personnel called upon from Harrison County and the surrounding areas to extinguish them. Without the great work of our volunteer fire departments, these fires could have quickly become a very dangerous situation.

Harrison County Emergency Management Coordinator, Philip Davis stated, “We have been very fortunate that our local fire fighters recognize the need to act quickly, as these fires can quickly spread out of control. Even with the rainfall and the expected snowfall over the weekend, conditions are still volatile and extremely dry. Ground moisture is seeing unprecedented lows.”

Residents are encouraged to assist our local fire departments. Residents are reminded to properly discard cigarettes and to never throw them out of moving vehicles. Please reach out to farmers, property tenants, neighbors, friends and family and ask them to disk at least a forty-foot perimeter of all their fields.

For updated information on the burn ban, please visit the Harrison County EMA Facebook Page. Residents can also sign up to receive additional information by signing up to receive community alerts related to fire warnings, evacuation orders, severe weather threats as well as any emergency alerts issued from the community.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – The latest drought monitor released Thursday morning, shows just how badly Iowa could use rain. Right now, the entire state remains in some type of drought. Nearly 89% of Iowa is moderately dry with nearly 11% in extreme drought, that latter of which is showing up in northwest and western areas, and is up from seven-percent just last week. Cass and most contiguous Counties are shown to be in a Moderate drought, with parts of Shelby and Montgomery in a severe drought, along with Harrison, Mills, Fremont and Page Counties.

(Radio Iowa) – The U-S Department of Agriculture announced that Carroll-based Region 12 Council of Governments had been selected to receive a 15 million-dollar grant from the new Meat and Poultry Intermediary Lending Program. Region Executive Director Rick Hunsaker says the goal is to increase capacity. “As we saw during the pandemic, you’d have these big plants that would close down or that would make decisions that would impact everybody in the supply chain. The goal I think is not only to increase capacity so that there are more people making products and more places making them so that it can be a little more resilient,” Hunsaker says. He says more producers also means is increased competition and more markets for producers.

He adds the top four processing companies are excluded from the program to achieve those goals. Iowa joins Minnesota and North Carolina as the only states selected for this first round of funding. Hunsaker says the grant will be used as capital to start a revolving loan program for Iowa businesses involved in the meat packing supply chain. “We’ve heard rumors here and there of start-up lockers, interest in lockers expanding, and certainly we have a lot of producers in this region that could benefit from the increased competition where they might have more markets for their animals or ones that are closer so it’s cheaper to get their product to a producer,” He says.

Region 12 primarily includes west central Iowa, but this program is different, as it will be available to eligible applicants throughout the state. Hunsaker says initial funding targets kill facilities or secondary processors, but the program will open further within a few years. “That would include anybody that is U-S-D-A-inspected — so it’s going to be big meat packing plants — but not one of the big four. It could also be anybody that is custom-exempt, which as I understand it a lot of county lockers would be that way,” Hunsaker says. “They would be eligible for the funds. Once the moneys are revolved and come back in, it could be anybody in the middle part of that supply chain like wholesaling and aggregators and transportation companies.”

Hunsaker says they are already working with U-S-D-A to get Region 12’s staff trained on program administration, but it could be after the start of the new year before they are ready to begin accepting applications. Applicants interested in the program are encouraged to contact Region 12 directly for information.

(Radio Iowa)- The new owners of a chicken processing plant in Charles City are getting nearly $46 million in federal assistance to reopen the facility. The Simply Essentials plant closed in August of 2019. Pure Prairie Farms, the facility’s new owner, is getting a nearly $39 million USDA loan, along with a grant of about $7 million. U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack said it’s part of the agency’s push to expand meat and poultry processing. “New opportunity, new choice for both producers and consumers,” Vilsack said.

The USDA has also given Upper Iowa Beef in Lime Springs a nearly $9 million grant. The company’s expansion project should increase slaughter capacity by 50 percent, according to the USDA. A more than half a million dollar grant will support the relocation and expansion of the Cherokee Locker, a meat processing facility in Cherokee. The Region XII Council of Governments, based in Carroll, is getting $15 million from the USDA to support new or expanding meat processing facilities.

This week the USDA has awarded $223 million in grants and loans to 32 companies in 19 different states. “We think it’s going to expand capacity in beef and pork and mixed processing by over 500,000 head per year,” Vilsack said. “We think it’s going to expand capacity in poultry nearly 34 million birds per year.”

Pure Prairie, the farmer-owned company that’s reopening the poultry plant in Charles City, expects to begin operations in mid-November.